Masquerade
by Tsormick
Summary: Finn begins to see through Karofsky's defenses.  He never chided himself that he was really that smart, but there were moments where it felt like he could just read people.  Begins the day after Furt.  Spoilers through AVGC just to be safe.  Now complete!
1. How it Begins

Disclaimer: I'm thinking about asking Santa to give me the rights to Glee for Christmas. Think It'll work?

How it Begins

Somehow, it always started with Kurt.

Kurt telling Finn that he couldn't come back to Glee Club because it was "a closed rehearsal." Kurt trying out for kicker on the football team and leading them to their first win of the season. Kurt introducing their parents. Kurt, in that God awful room with the scarves flung everywhere and the blankets and pillows with the fringes, making Finn say horrible things that he never thought he would be capable of saying, let alone to _him_, and _damn it _Kurt was the one who liked him in the first place and was practically stalking him.

Kurt had such a presence that even things that didn't start with him, came back to him and all you could remember was that somewhere in there was Kurt, causing chaos.

Finn was late coming in from football practice. Coach Beiste had stopped him while the other guys walked to the locker room to shower.

"Hudson, you doing all right? You seemed a little off at practice today."

Sam walked past the pair, just close enough to still be in earshot. He gave Finn a competitive, yet still friendly smile, before hoisting his bag of gear up on his shoulder and walking off.

Finn glared at him. _Bring it on, Evans._

"Finn." He returned his attention to Beiste.

"Sorry, coach."

"You look exhausted."

"Must have been all those laps." Finn tried for nonchalance and a half smile. He failed at both.

"No. You looked like that before practice even started. Is everything OK?" He considered lying to her, but she looked so concerned that he was answering her before he had realized that he made the decision to respond.

"I was up all night helping Kurt pack." He released a humorless laugh. "Actually it was more me trying to help him pack and him refusing while trying to act like leaving McKinley wasn't bothering him."

Beiste nodded. "Mr. Shuester told me that he was transferring."

"Yeah." Finn swallowed the lump forming in his throat. Just when he thought that he and Kurt would actually be OK… "Was there anything else you wanted to talk to me about?"

Beiste looked out at the now empty football field. "No. I just- you know you can talk to me, right? And if you feel like your game might be compromised, I can let Sam step in as quarterback for a while."

"No!" She looked startled at the sudden exclamation. Finn backtracked. "I mean, no, but thanks. I'll be fine. Kind of want to rip Karofsky apart, but I'll be fine."

"Anytime," she said, clapping him on the shoulder, "you ever need anything, you just let me know." Her expression was serious as she watched Finn, with sympathy in her eyes.

"Thanks coach."

Finn dragged himself off to the locker room. Most of the guys were already getting dressed and gathering their things for the evening. The room smelled of men's body wash and the air was steamy, almost masking the constant stink of B.O.

Puck, Mike and Artie were waiting for him when he walked in. They seemed to have been having a hushed conversation. Puck and Mike were seated on one of the benches with Artie in front of them, heads bowed together. It looked like Sam had already taken off.

This immediately struck Finn as odd. If they were talking about Glee, it's not like it was a secret that they were in the club. Sure, they didn't go boasting about it, especially not after football practice where they got shit whether or not Glee came up, but they didn't sit around and whisper to each other either.

Finn thought he heard the words "eleven members" drift over to him.

They were discussing sectionals. They couldn't compete unless they got another member.

Finn wandered over to them and sat down heavily next to Puck. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Karofsky pulling his backpack out of his locker. Finn felt his blood begin to boil just at the sight of him. _That explains the whispering_.

"Dude, did you talk to him?"

Finn shifted his gaze to Puck, confusion on his face. "Who?"

He lowered his voice. "To Kurt." Puck looked at him disbelievingly. "Who else?"

Finn's eyes flicked to Karofsky again. Puck rolled his eyes and gave an angry huff, thankfully muffled by Karofsky slamming his locker shut.

"I tried, but he didn't really want to talk. He was pretty upset."

"We can't compete without him," Artie whispered.

"I know. And he knows that too, and I could tell he felt really bad about it, but we'll just have to find a replacement."

Puck shook his head. "l'll talk to Shue."

Mike scoffed. "What good'll that do?"

"Maybe he can work something out with Figgins so that Kurt can come back."

"He left for a reason," Finn retorted, momentarily forgetting to keep his voice down. The four boys looked up to see if anyone had noticed, but the locker room was mostly empty. Except for one boy, who was standing with his back to them, backpack resting on the bench in front of them with the straps clenched in his hand. Karofsky.

"Do you mind?" Mike asked, standing up slowly and trying his best to look threatening as Karofsky turned around, anger etched into every line on his face.

"Considering you guys are all talking about me behind my back? No, I don't mind."

Artie looked confused. "We weren't talking about you."

Puck stood up and pushed Mike aside, locking eyes with Karofsky. "Yes we were, Artie. We were talking about how big of an asshole Karofsky is for making Kurt transfer and getting away with it because the school board won't do shit." Puck raised his fist to Karofsky's face. "When my probation is up, I swear to God, the first thing I'm going to do is kick the shit out of you."

"But until then," Mike spoke up as he cracked his knuckles.

"Dude, seriously, Artie's more threatening than you and he's in a wheelchair."

"Thanks Puck," Artie said sarcastically.

"No, wait, stop. No one's punching anyone." Finn rubbed his hand over his eyes. He really was exhausted.

"What? Why not?" Puck asked, his hand down by his side but still in a fist.

"Yeah, Hudson. Why not?" Karofsky challenged him, face still contorted in anger.

Finn ignored him. "You don't want his blood on your hands."

Puck looked ready to contradict him, but Finn cut in again. "Just go home. We'll talk about it later."

None of them looked ready to vacate the area, but Finn's tone was unyielding.

"Whatever. I'm still talking to Shue."

And with that Puck pushed Artie out of the locker room, with Mike trailing behind, all three of them glaring at Karofsky.

Finn was aware of Karofsky's eyes on him even after the other guys had left. He unwillingly made eye contact.

"What?" he said, biting out the word.

Karofsky looked surprised and somehow… sad. All traces of anger were gone.

There were several seconds of silence.

"Why did you do that? You could have easily beaten the shit out of me. There were three and a half of you."

That was the final straw. "Artie's not half a person just because he can't walk." Finn was approaching him before he knew what he was doing, raising one hand up to punch him in the face and another hand to pin him to the lockers.

Karofsky's hands went up in immediate apology.

"I wasn't talking about Artie!" Finn stopped cold. Karofsky smirked. "Not that I was concerned about you taking me in a fight, because let's face it, you're too nice. I would win by default."

"Who were you talking about then?"

"Chang. Guys about as threatening as my 85 year old grandma. And she's bed-ridden."

"Oh."

"Yeah, 'oh.' Maybe you shouldn't be so quick to judge."

"Just because you weren't insulting Artie doesn't make it OK. And what do you know about not judging people, anyway? You heard us. Kurt transferred because of you. Because of our fucked up school that allowed you to be here and forced him out just for being himself."

"It's a dog-eat-dog world. Stand out and you get beaten down. He had it coming." That look was back in his eyes again, that sad, deadened look that made Finn so uncomfortable that he almost had to turn away.

Finn never chided himself that he was really that smart. But there were moments where it felt like he could just read people. Maybe it came partially from growing up with just his mom and learning that it was OK to talk about feelings and stuff (but he quickly figured out not to do this too much with guys his age).

"What was it about him that made you so uncomfortable?"

"Excuse me?" Karofsky was attempting to get that angry look back on his face. His safety mask. Hide the deadened stare. Revolt.

It wasn't working.

"There was obviously something about him, _him_ in particular that made you torture him so much. I've seen what you do to others. To me. Slushies, name calling, stupid shit that I bet a two year old could think up. But it's not enough, is it? So you go after Kurt. All of the worst bullying for Kurt. Shoving him into the lockers, threatening him. Throwing him into the dumpsters like a piece of trash for something that he can't even control.

"Do you know how much you fucked him up?" Finn's voice tore out of him, a jagged growl empowered by his fury and his guilt over not helping Kurt when it truly mattered, and now it was too late. He could feel pricks of moisture in the corners of his eyes. He blinked them away.

He expected Karofsky to punch him in the face or scream at him or at least turn around and walk away. He didn't do any of them.

The dead look in his eyes spread over his whole face and down his body. He was practically crumbling in front of Finn, this hollow, empty shell of a boy struggling to become a man.

It was terrifying.

Karofsky sounded like he was struggling to keep his breathing even. His eyes were still trained on Finn, but they were unseeing. Finn wondered briefly if he could just leave. Karofsky probably wouldn't even notice.

The air seemed to be ringing with Finn's harsh words, _"fucked him up"_ echoing in his ears.

"I never wanted to hurt you," Karofsky mumbled to himself, still staring past Finn. The words were colored with remorse and a sort of tenderness, both of which were foreign coming out of Karofsky's mouth.

Finn almost wasn't sure if he heard it. His own words were still replaying themselves, monstrous and so completely unlike anything Finn had ever heard himself say. It was just like when he had yelled "faggy" at Kurt over and over, but somehow these words seem worse because before his words had been driven by anxiety and now they had come from somewhere angry and violent.

Maybe Finn mixed up their tone of voice. There was no way that the violence was coming from him, and this broken apology (was that the right word for this?) came from Dave Karofsky.

"Well you did. Hurt him," Finn said, softer this time.

Karofsky snapped back, mask on. "Fuck you, Hudson. He started it."

And just like that, the moment was over.

AN: Originally going to be a one-shot, but it didn't want to end how I had planned. So, multiple chapters! Not sure how many yet.


	2. What Comes Next

Disclaimer: Unfortunately did not get the rights to Glee for Christmas. Maybe next year!

What Comes Next

After Kurt, there was always Azimio, making everything ten times worse. Karofsky may have followed him around, always ready with a slushy or some ill thought out insult, but Azimio struck first. Whether it was a movement or a verbal attack, he authorized the provocation.

Exhibit A. Kurt obviously had a huge crush on Finn. Anyone with eyes could see that. If there was one thing Kurt was _not_, it was subtle. Then Finn joined Glee, which certainly didn't help, but Azimio just had to come after him with the insults and homophobic comments, leading the herd of jocks armed with slushies.

"_Being in Glee club doesn't make you versatile, it makes you bisexual."_

Finn had been uncomfortable with Kurt before that, but that didn't mean that he was going to go and call his things _faggy_. Until that moment in the bathroom with Azimio. Karofsky had his share of witticisms, sure, but Azimio's cut the deepest.

Azimio was on a rampage in the locker room, not just shooting down others' opinions, but blasting them apart with a vengeance like a machine gun.

Although Azimio had some fancier terms, the likes of which Finn didn't completely understand, the general message he got was _Whatever you're thinking, you're wrong wrong wrong. _

Walking to class earlier that day, Finn had crossed paths with Azimio at the same time as some kid who was bitching about Obama, not because of any of his policies or for something that would have made sense to Finn (OK, maybe he wouldn't know anything about the policies themselves, but he could appreciate the sentiment at least. People had opinions about political issues. He just went with it.) but it sounded like the primary reason this guy was upset was because of his race. Which was just about the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard.

The guy even called Obama "racially handicapped."

Azimio had acted like he hadn't heard anything. And for that brief moment, Finn believed that he hadn't.

Finn was now amending that thought.

Azimio was off on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," pouring all his anger into it. It was loud, opinionated, and _desperate_.

"-And those faggots, they just think that it'll be OK for them to be in the army, naked in the showers and shit with the other guys, and it won't be fucking awkward for anyone if one of those fags gets a fucking hard on at the mere sight of all those dicks. Like that'll fucking help in a war."

Karofsky, beside him, only nodded and swallowed. He didn't look at his friend even though Azimio was searching for eye contact. Instead, he pulled his planner out of his bag and flipped it open.

Azimio carried on anyway. He always did. "Something's off," he said, leaning in to whisper now, a horribly harsh sound that was somehow worse than the near-yelling, "something is wrong with their brains. And you can't fucking tell who's got the disease." There's the rub. Racism's horrible because it's just a difference in appearance and people should know by now that it doesn't affect your brain. But gays- they look like normal people. And for someone who's determined to displace their own discrimination on something, that's terrifying. "Could be anyone in this room."

He paused, obviously waiting for a response this time.

Karofsky stared harder at his planner.

Man, he must have some serious homework or something he needs to think about.

Finn, sitting a couple benches down and putting on his shoes (while trying not to look like he was eavesdropping too much, but honestly didn't know why he cared,) stood up and squinted at the date on the planner page.

It was dated sometime in October. It was the end of November now.

Karofsky finally let out a strangled "yeah." Breaking the silence seemed to harden him. He snapped the planner shut and stuffed it back in his backpack. "It could be anyone."

He glared at Finn.

Guys around the room were in varying states of approval or disgust, but looked to all have the similar thought of "let's get out of here before shit gets ugly." Sam in particular looked repulsed.

Of course he did. Sam's throwaway comment to him in the beginning of the year (that still managed to sound accusatory), "I didn't know you had a problem with gay dudes" replayed in his memory, along with his flippant statement that was proving to be more accurate than he would ever want, "I don't have a problem with gay dudes. Everyone else does."

Puck was going for record speed getting out of there, Finn guessed so he didn't do something he would regret and mess up his probation. He started pushing Artie out the door so he could have something to clench his hands around. Artie and Mike were equally pissed.

Finn realized that Karofsky was still staring at him. Was he supposed to respond to that? Would acknowledging that the comment was directed at him make it better or worse?

More importantly, did it even matter? Hadn't he improved at all? Or was he still the homophobic jerk who threw pee balloons at Kurt, despite having sung a song to him and danced with him at the wedding? He was disgusted with himself.

He finally settled on, "dude, you know I'm not gay," figuring at least that was safe.

Karofsky didn't gift him with a response. Instead, he went back to his locker and looked at it distantly, like maybe he was seeing something else in its place.

Beside him, Azimio was silently fuming while he packed his bag.

Finn realized that he had forgotten his other shoe, and got to work tying the laces, but he was still slightly annoyed with his self-improvement (or lack thereof) and his fingers didn't want to work right.

"I think I just need to blow some shit up. I'll call you later for Halo," Azimio finally said and Karofsky nodded his consent before Azimio walked out the door.

Karofsky looked suspiciously less intimidating and far more vulnerable when it was only him and Finn left in the locker room. Karofsky visibly slouched when he stood by himself.

It made Finn uneasy. Karofsky was going to do that thing where he started collapsing in on himself, and Finn didn't want to watch.

He could deal with emotions if the person didn't try to hide it. He was good at offering comfort when he knew it would be well received. That was one of his issues with Kurt. Kurt kept most of his emotions locked up in a tight little box away from where Finn could see. (They would have to work on that.) It appeared that Kurt wasn't the only one. When people denied themselves the support of others, there was no telling what would happen when they inevitably snapped.

Finn tried to make it out before he could see Karofsky crack. He honestly wasn't sure of what he would see underneath because whatever it was, Karofsky must have thought it was so hideous that he had to hide it from the world.

He was practically out, striding purposefully towards the door when Karofsky spoke, mumbled and almost inaudible.

"Does he like it at his new school?"

Finn stopped. He turned slowly, proud of how calculated his movements were and how level his voice was when he answered, "Why the fuck do you care?"

It was less even when he added, "What gives you the right to ask me that?"

Again there was that infuriating pause. Karofsky had obviously heard the question, but seemed to freeze.

That didn't stop Finn from seeing into his cracks. _I don't know_ was written plainly on his face.

But Finn wasn't finished. "You threaten to kill him and then you have the _nerve_ to ask me about him? What makes you think you have the right to know anything about him?"

The implications behind each question, that Karofsky caused this situation and didn't deserve any retribution out of it, came out like blows and as each one hit him, another layer of guilt spread over him.

So much guilt.

Stripped of his friends and his temper, Karofsky was helpless and young.

Finn's palms felt moist. This was a different Karofsky than the one he had become so familiar with. It was a strange comfort, the way that he had counted on certain people to be mean and others to be nice. Breaking out of those molds, whether it was for good or for bad, was devastating.

The first thought Finn had was _you're not supposed to be human_.

There was a kind of trust in expecting someone to always be rude and insulting, the same kind of trust Finn placed in people he expected to be loving and kind. In its own way, a dehumanizing trust.

Pulling at the back of Finn's memories was a boy he had buried long ago, who was quiet and polite and bulky for his age, with shoulders too broad and arms and legs too short. A boy who reached puberty before the others and became the laughing stock of the locker room for bodily changes that were out of his control.

A boy who had later slushied him, raging _"I've wanted to do that ever since you made fun of me in fifth grade for getting pubes."_

Karofsky finally responded, a quiver in his voice and a look of hatred in the back of his eyes. "I don't have any right to ask."

Finn wished he would just stop. Stop with the dead eyes and the guilt coated face, and the agreeing with the cutting (yet valid) questions.

"I really don't give a fuck what the little _fag_ does anyway."

There was a darkness in the way he said "fag," in the way it ripped out of his throat and was coated in the same hatred that was swimming in his eyes. And unlike the previous statement, which seemed oddly sincere, this one rang false.

A sinking feeling in the pit of Finn's stomach that told him that the word wasn't even directed at Kurt, but someone else entirely.

His mom had told him once that the worst thing to feel about someone was nothing, because even in hatred there was passion. Or something like that. Yeah, that sounded about right.

Sometime while Finn was processing these thoughts, the words "you do care" slipped out.

Shock overtook Karofsky's features, and second was the resurfacing temper, simmering over the top of the almost hidden fear.

Karofsky gaped at him for a second before the words "don't try to tell me how I feel" stormed out, along with Karofsky approaching Finn with fists raised.

A brief second sailed by with Karofsky's fist in Finn's face. Finn had always thought of bullies as being dirty, that somehow their corrupt personality seeped out their pores, but Karofsky smelled of aftershave and laundry. When nothing happened, Finn felt reasonably sure that Karofsky wasn't actually going to hit him.

That didn't stop Finn from being nervous as he said, "his dad mentioned something about you threatening Kurt if Kurt told on you."

Karofsky was shaking, making an obvious effort to keep up the front of anger. "Yeah? And tell what?"

Finn just looked at him. He didn't even need to respond.

Karofsky took a step back. "That little bitch told you."

Finn began shaking his head, saying "Kurt didn't tell me anything" but he doubted that Karofsky actually heard any of it.

The shorter boy's hands were all over his head, clenching his hair, pressing over his ears, rubbing his eyes. Blocking sensation, perhaps displacing himself from this locker room, even this world. He was going to scream or cry or maybe punch Finn after all.

Then Karofsky yanked his backpack up off the locker room floor and bolted out of there, running faster than Finn had ever seen him run in football practice.

Kurt hadn't needed to tell Finn anything.

AN: Merry Christmas, everyone! Hopefully the holiday spirit is upon you and you will review? Thanks to Inky74, RoseRedMisery, SciFiMom2000 and Nemesis.63 who all left very nice reviews! I think one more chapter after this.


	3. It's Not Over

Disclaimer: Still don't own it

It's Not Over

Sometimes Finn felt like he was wrapped up in everything. He was in the middle of every problem. It was easy to displace that feeling onto someone else, to say that something happened because someone acted a certain way and he really didn't have much to do with it at all.

It was harder to ignore the fact that no matter how others acted, no matter what he did because of peer pressure, he was inevitably part of the conclusion.

Somehow he had to take all the crap from others and make a happy ending for himself, despite all of his problems.

He wished that being the "bigger man" was as easy as just being taller than everyone. He had that covered.

Now he was struggling with being the "bigger man" and trying to be decent to a guy who had threatened the life of his stepbrother not to mention thrown slushies on everyone in Glee. A guy whose best friend would hate him if he knew the truth. (Could be better in the long run if they weren't friends, though. Azimio was an asshole.) Karofsky was reserved as a child and probably repressed at home. Without any possible support from the friends that he did have, and parents who might not understand or even try to, he had nothing to hold onto except fear and conformity. Maybe if he pretended to fit in and be like everyone else, eventually he would be.

Finn understood that. Act like everyone else, blend into the crowd, and be liked for the person you've molded yourself into. It's better than being hated for the person you actually are.

But it's not as good as being liked for the person you actually are. But being liked for yourself requires vulnerability, fear, and rejection. It means that there's a good change not everyone will like you, and when they call you names and throw slushies in your face, the sticky ice splatters all over the person you are and not the one you invented for others to see.

The freezing corn syrup comes off easier when someone else helps you.

Finn didn't know what to do. He lay back on his bed and closed his eyes against the overhead light. He was back in Kurt's basement temporarily, while Burt and his mom sold his house and looked for a new one with three bedrooms. They thought it made more sense for all of them to stay in the bigger house than to put the houses on the market one at a time.

Burt had tried to turn Kurt's absence into a joke, saying that "at least this time you have your own room," but the attempt was weak and the circumstance painful.

This huge room where Kurt should be and wasn't was far more claustrophobic than the closet Finn had spent his life growing up in.

Finn wondered how claustrophobic Karofsky's closet was. He had spent his life growing up in there, too.

Finn pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and mechanically scrolled through his contacts. He was calling Kurt before he was aware of what he was doing.

On the second ring, he realized that Kurt would probably get upset if he tried to talk to him about this. So he hung up.

Kurt called him back.

"Just the Way You Are" blasted out of his phone, seeming to get louder the longer he waited to answer it.

He answered right before it went to voicemail.

"Hello?" Play it cool. Act like nothing's wrong.

"You rang?"

"Did I?" His voice was higher than normal. He tried to clear his throat without making a sound.

"Yes… Is everything OK? It's late. And you hung up before I could answer."

"Yeah, I uh, just wanted to say hi. Then I saw how late it was and thought another time would be better."

"You sound weird. And you never call me."

This was such a horrible idea. "Yeah, well… just thought I'd say hi."

"Yes, you said that. Is everything OK?"

"Everything's… fine."

"I heard about what happened." Kurt's voice was sad.

How could Kurt possibly know about what had happened with Karofsky? And had something actually _happened_? Sure, they had a couple awkward moments alone in the locker room where Finn had worked out Karofsky's biggest secret, (Unless he was also a serial killer. That might be a bigger secret.) but did that count as something "happening"?

"What?"

"With Rachel."

Finn felt his stomach drop. One problem at a time, please.

"Oh." There was silence while Finn worked out how to respond. It wasn't that he didn't want someone to talk to about this, but Kurt and Rachel didn't exactly get along, and Kurt was unlikely to offer a whole lot of sympathy for Finn breaking up with a girl who Kurt hated to begin with. Finn settled on, "Who told you?"

"Mercedes," Kurt said, like the answer was obvious.

"How did she know?" This was horrifying. Finn didn't speak to Mercedes unless he had to. Mostly because she was kind of scary.

"Quinn told her, I think." When Finn didn't respond immediately, Kurt continued, "Puck probably told her. Or he told Sam and Sam told Quinn."

"Great," Finn said with distaste. "Wasn't actually why I called."

"So you admit that there was a reason why you called."

"It's… I…" Kurt waited patiently for Finn to continue. Finn imagined Kurt sitting there with a quietly concerned look on his face. "I sort of figured something out about someone, and I don't know what to do."

"You're going to have to give me more than that."

"I feel really awful bringing this up."

Awareness seemed to dawn on Kurt as he said coldly, "If it's what I think it is, I don't know why you feel that you have to _do_ anything. He's dangerous. Don't get involved."

That made Finn feel even worse.

"You're right," he lied, "Sorry I called you."

"I mean it, Finn. I'm astounded that you are even considering trying to help him after what he did to me."

Finn heard the silent cry in Kurt's voice, pleading, "Don't pick him over me."

But Kurt wasn't there anymore. He didn't have to do what Kurt wanted. And it wasn't like he was trying to disown Kurt. He just thought that someone should choose Karofsky, for once in his life. And maybe Finn could find that shy little fifth grader inside the teenager who had been turned into something guarded, angry, and scared.

Finn said his goodbyes to Kurt and both boys promised to try and talk more often. Then Finn turned on the old computer that Kurt had left behind in his basement. Kurt had gotten a new laptop for his birthday, and he took that with him- a desktop computer would be completely unnecessary and hard to set up. Finn typed "gay helpline" into the Google search bar.

He tore a piece of paper out of one of his notebooks and wrote down the number of the first website that popped up. He tried to ignore the fact that the link had already been clicked on.

When he arrived at school the next day, he made excuses to walk down the hallway with Karofsky's locker as many times as it took until he could pass the locker with no one looking.

Then he slid the folded up paper with the helpline numbers on it through one of the holes in the locker.

What Karofsky chose to do with it after that was up to him.

It wasn't a solution to all of Karofsky's problems, not even close, but Finn hoped that it was at least a start.

Maybe one day Finn could apologize to the boy he had teased all those years ago, without being arrogant for thinking that perhaps his behavior had partially caused the anger that forced Kurt out of school.

For right now, Finn blamed himself. But Karofsky probably blamed himself too.

Receiving the number was meant to be a catalyst for Karofsky, that maybe someday he could learn to live without the guilt and hatred and even be able to like himself.

Finn just hoped that giving the number helped him to forgive himself for messing this boy up all those years ago, even if it was just a little bit.

AN: Thanks for all the wonderful reviews! Sorry about the shorter chapter this time (also for the fact that Karofsky doesn't actually appear in it, but Kurt does instead and that makes it better, right?)- I realized that the story was starting to head in the direction of a longer story that I was thinking about writing, and wanted to end it before it got to that point. So if this seems somewhat inconclusive and you'd like to see more Karofsky/Finn interaction, let me know! Reviews are the best motivators. I would want to get a second story started ASAP because ideally I'd like it to be finished by the SB episode.


	4. A brief note to my readers

To all those of you who have commented that you want this story to continue and/or put this story on alert after all three chapters were posted:

There is a sequel! (I thought that was clear in the A.N. at the end of the chapter, but maybe not everyone reads those?) "Our Past Selves Left Behind" picks up right where this story left off.

Loving all of the enthusiasm. Really loving it. Thanks everyone!


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